PEMBROKE, N.H. –
Despite an early spring snowstorm, soldiers from Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment (MEDEVAC) partnered with New England K-9 Search and Rescue for a joint training exercise April 12 at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Concord and the Edward Cross Training Complex in Pembroke.
“The New Hampshire National Guard has been instrumental in search and rescue operations,” said Daniel Lampignano, president of NEK9. “We have a very challenging environment, and our ability to collaborate has only augmented our capacity to bring missing people home.”
Initially scheduled for Bear Brook State Park, the training was shifted to the Concord area because of hazardous travel conditions.
“The biggest setback of today was having to improvise a plan,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Knight, a combat medic with Charlie Company. “But it’s essential that we still train, because when we deploy soldiers, they need to be prepared to execute these skills in any environment.”
The day-long collaboration included NEK9's air-scent and tracking demonstrations, instruction on footprint analysis and tactical movement, and lessons in constructing shelters for evasion or survival situations.
The 238th's mission extends beyond battlefield medicine. It includes domestic operations such as search and rescue during natural disasters, missing person incidents, and large-scale emergencies. The unit regularly supports real-world search and rescue missions across the state, coordinating life-saving medical evacuation in support of New Hampshire Fish and Game.
During his classroom lesson, Lampignano highlighted the value of trained dogs in recovery missions, noting that a K-9’s sense of smell is up to 100,000 times stronger than a human’s. A team of seven dogs can clear roughly 2,000 acres in less than 12 hours, a speed that can mean the difference between life and death, Lampignano said.
“The dogs we have are stubborn,” he added. “They are persistent. That is why they’re good at this work.”
The soldiers practiced alternative techniques to include analyzing footprints, estimating pace and direction, and learning to distinguish multiple tracks in complex terrain.
To close out the day, soldiers constructed shelters using field craft principles and tactical evasion techniques by building shelters that would be difficult to detect. They accomplished this by electing concealed and elevated locations, avoiding flood-prone areas, and building with tarps, logs, rope and foliage to provide security.
“We all should have a background in basic survival, no matter what our specialty is,” said Spc. Alexandra Villers, a combat medic with the unit. “At the end of the day, we’re all soldiers. I think it’s very important to maintain that skill throughout your career and to complete our mission.”